bookshelf speakers (1 Viewer)

[AaronArmstrong]

Here's my situation,

I have a 1,000 budget.
Looking at $400 range receiver.
I need to get a 5.1 setup with left over money.
I currently have a piecemeal setup.
I am rearranging my home theater room/living room.
I need to go smaller than the current big box
Technics that I use as my mains. I need to rearrange
in the next week or so, so I really have to have
the new bookshelf speakers right away, the others can
wait. Although I probably should pick up a sub at same time
because of going to smaller fronts.
Any suggestions for my setup.
The bookshelf speaker cannot be wider than 14"
I can play with the height, but ideally under 18".

Any expert advice?

Thanks in advance,
Aaron Armstrong

 

[Mark C.]

I don't have them, but the Energy Take 5.2 would seem to fit into your budget and get rave reviews as well.

My son uses Klpisch Quintet speakers combined with a Sony sub. Total cost on the 5 quintets (which used to be all over Ebay, haven't looked lately) was somewhere around $280. Sony sub about $200 at Best Buy.

I'm sure there are others that folks around here can recommend.

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

You may want to look at either the JBL NSP1 package (4 N24s and a N Center), or 4 JBL N26s and an NCenter. I'm pretty sure both would fit your budget and sound very nice. The NSP1 package can be found as low as $250 shipped online. The N26s can be found for around $130 a pair shipped, and the N Center can be found for around $100 shipped. you could even mix it up w/ N26 fronts and N24 surrounds. If you can, matching the center exactly with the mains is the best. Depending on your receiver capabilities, you could get 2 pairs of N26s and have a 6.1 setup with perfectly matched speakers all around.

For about the same price as the N26s, you can get the N28s. They're 12" wide and about 19.5" tall. If that would fit your space constraints, i would reccomend those. I have the N28s with 4 N24s as surrounds and back surrounds and a N Center in a 7.1 setup and love them. I thought about N28s all around except for an NCenter, but the N28s were just too big for surround use, especially in my small 10'x10' apartment style dorm living room.

For a subwoofer, i would reccomend the Sony SA-WM40. I've seen it online as low as $155 shipped. It goes for $200 at best buy.

Hope this helps.

 

[AaronArmstrong]

Thanks for the advice guys.
The JBL's sound nice.
Here's some more questions for you .

Lets say I got the n28's for my mains.

Would there be a problem using n24s as surrounds?
Would I still use the n center?
Also in a 6.1 setup what kind of speaker do you use
for the rear center? another N center?

Thanks again for your help so far.

Aaron

 

[keir]

my expert (or maybe not ) advise is to put the bulk of your money into speakers and spend the rest on a receiver. speakers will have a much greater impact on the sound. A cheap receiver with nice speakers is going to sound better than cheaper speakers with a nice receiver. solid state amps do have a bit of their own sound signiture, but the sound signiture of the speakers is much more prevalent in the sound of the final product. (much much much more prevalent!)
of course some people don't agree with that, so you can decide for yourself.
i bought a set of paradigm speakers and a sony sa-wm40 subwoofer for about $780 (atoms, titans, and a cc-170, at about $200 per pair + $200 for the center channel, +$150 for the sub) and im using a receiver that i got for $180 - a kenwood vr-407. i havnt had any reason to upgrade the receiver either. it doesnt clip the signal at any level i listen too, and it has all the features i want.
just the opinion of one man, and good luck with your setup. no matter what you get, the advice from these forums will pretty much ensure you enjoy your setup.
edit: my addition skills are lacking :b

 

[AaronArmstrong]

I havent even looked into the subwoofer yet.

You are the second to mention the sony, must
be the way to go.

Aaron

 

[AaronArmstrong]

Ok guys,
I'm gonna post a new message with JBL in header
to get more input on the speakers.

Thanks

 

[Andre Aguiar]

Aaron,

This is what I got for $625 shipped:

JBL 2-S38ii
JBL 2-S26ii
JBL S-Centerii

Got it from etronics.com

FOr the price you can't beat it. Even my father couldn't believe how good they sounded for that price.

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

I replied to your email, but i'll reply to your post too.

If you went with N28 mains, you would still use the N Center.

For surrounds you could use N24s, N26s, or N28s. It's really your choice, but i think N28s (and even N26s) would be overkill unless you plan on doing DVD-Audio or SACD where the same speakers all around are preferred.

In a 6.1, you could use either a N Center, or another speaker the same as your surrounds. One way to do a great 6.1 setup would be 3 pairs of N28s, N26s, or 1 pair of N28s and 2 pairs of N26s. I considered 3 pairs of N28s, but the N28s were just too big for me to use as surrounds. Remember, you don't have to use a "center speaker" as your center channel. A speaker identical to your mains is preferred, but not always possible. That's why they make timbre matched center speakers.

For a 7.1 setup, the best way to get the most for your money is to go with N28 mains and purchase the NSP1 package.